


Unresolved

by Filmsterr



Category: Supernatural, The Office (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel as Pam, Dean as Jim, Episode: s04e17 It's a Terrible Life, Fluff, Jealousy, Lucifer/Castiel - Freeform, M/M, Minor Becky Rosen/Chuck Shurley, Minor Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 08:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15481416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Filmsterr/pseuds/Filmsterr
Summary: As in, Unresolved Sexual Tension.---A Destiel/The Office reimagining.





	Unresolved

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Baby, Don't Run (When The Time Comes)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3071606) by [youaresunlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/youaresunlight/pseuds/youaresunlight). 



> Guess who's been in an anxiety spiral for the last four days and non-stop bingeing The Office because of it? (:

“Dean and Cas?” Charlie says, an old kind of eye-rolling exhaustion in her voice. “Don’t even get me started on that whole mess.”

** 

Sam looks straight into the camera. “I just wish they’d [deleted] already.”

**

 

The first time Dean ever felt hope was that Thursday night at The Roadhouse. Cas had at least one too many margaritas, which Dean learned were his favorite but that he almost never drank, and he got so chatty and so loud. Like, he was yelling. And he was laughing so much.

He doesn't remember exactly what they were celebrating, but he remembers the sound of Cas' laugh. Dean had been feeling so good about everything. Cas was hovering, let his finger rest against Dean’s arm a couple times. He even looked poised to try and get a dance-off going. Until Luc showed up to bring Cas home.

“But what _happened_?” Charlie demands insistently in the break room the next day. Her mug reads _Bean Me Up, Scotty_. “Did you guys…?”

Dean’s eyes dart towards the camera. “Nothing,” he tells her quickly, “nothing happened.”

 

**

“The thing about Dean is…” Castiel chews on his lower lip, “when he’s excited about something, when he wants to… push himself, he can really do a great job at things. The problem is that he works here, so...”

** 

Dean furrows his eyebrows. “That’s not true. There’s a lot of things that make me feel excited about work.” He turns his head to the side and glances out towards the reception desk. “Well, about the office.”

**

 

Cas doesn’t complain about Luc. It would be easier if he did. Dean knows what a loser he is. 

Okay, that probably isn’t fair. He’s not a loser. There’s probably some nice, boring guy out there who’d be a million times better for him. Cas? Cas is too funny, too smart, too… too a million things for some small-town guy like him. 

...not that Dean is any big-shot Prince Charming or whatever, but. At least, he makes Cas laugh. 

 

**

 

“Wow, Novak, what a shirt,” Dean grins as he approaches the reception desk.

Cas’ cheeks turn bright pink and Dean smiles wider. “Oh,” Cas sighs, “I know. It’s too much, isn't? I thought I’d try something new, but…”

“No, I mean it," Dean insists, turning earnest for once in his life, "I really like it. It makes your eyes pop, y’know.”

From over the partition to the Accounting department, Gabe’s head pops up like a gopher from its hiding place. “I like it too, Cassie. That pink with the sparkling blue in your eyes really makes you all kinds of candy-coated delicious.”

Dean finds Gabe's comment weird and unhelpful, like most things Gabe says. He plans to tell him something along these lines and go back to complimenting Cas as obviously as he can, when he's interrupting by a loud noise. The front door opens and all heads turn to watch as Luc stalks into the room.  “Hey, babe, are you ready to-- Jesus! What’s up with the shirt?”

Luc laughs out loud and "nudges" Dean hard with his elbow. “Am I right, Deano? Does my fiancé looks like a flamingo in this get-up or what?”

Cas ducks his head and grabs his bag. His cheeks are even more pink than his shirt. “Let’s just go,” he mutters as he stands up from the desk. 

Dean scowls at the door as it closes behind them. 

 

**

"I can think of at least five ways my life could be better," Dean admits frankly. He's not perturbed or upset. Just honest. "I'm working on most of 'em. And I think that with a little time... I think a lot of change is coming."

**

Cas is flustered. "I mean, what is happy even? That word is so subjective." He scoffs, and then looks into the camera , and remembers himself. He smoothes his shirt down and states calmly, "I think I'm doing pretty okay. I mean, I'm engaged, I have my own place. Next year I can trade my lease in for a Prius."

A small sigh. "Things are good. I wouldn't want to... risk that."

**

"For me? Happy is a room full of sweet, chocolate-y goodies, and eight or nine ladies to share it with."

"Gabe, don't be so gross."

**

 

Every year, the Christmas party (also known as the Nondenominational Winter Festivities Event, a term coined and used exclusively by Becky) has a different, ridiculous theme. This year, of course, is no different.

"You know, Japan is less than one percent Christian," Anna announces pointedly from beside the water cooler. She bats an origami crane out of her face which dangles down from the ceiling. "They probably don't even celebrate Christmas there."

Beside her, Dean shrugs. "Whatever, as long as they keep the sake flowing."

Over the edge of his glass, he watches the opposite side of the room where Cas is leaning into Luc's side. He's wearing the tie that Dean bought him last year for Secret Santa. He looks distracting handsome, just like every other day.

A hand claps forcefully on Dean's shoulder, startling him. "God, you are a goner." He turns and sees Sam, still wearing that dorky yellow polo, grinning smugly at him. 

"Just shut up." He never was one for clever comebacks.

Sam looks from Dean to Cas, and back over to Dean. He raises his eyebrows slightly, and then sighs. "You know, Christmas is the time to tell people how you really feel."

"It's not Christmas. It's the Nonde-something Winter Festivities."

Sam claps him on the shoulder again before he turns to leave. "I'm saying this for your sake, man. Things could get better, if you only let them."

Dean stares into his cup and doesn't talk to anybody for a while. 

At the end of the night, it's all hugs and best wishes and see-you-next-years. Everyone has had a little too much sake, not least of all Dean, who feels warm and good and a little reckless. Chuck gives him the keys and a wink and tells him to lock up before he goes. 

He does that and then he turns around, and it's then that he notices the only two people left in the parking lot. Him and Cas. 

Cas is standing by one of the potted plants in his thin trench coat, shivering. Dean shuffles toward him.

"Where's Luc?"

Cas turns, like he might have forgotten Dean was there. He tilts his head, but smiles. "He went off to a bar with some friends. I'm waiting for a cab now."

Dean doesn't like that one bit. "He left you here all alone? With no ride home?"

"He gave me money for a cab."

Dean certainly has some ideas of what he'd give Luc if he had the chance. But, Cas looks okay, and Dean doesn't want to upset him. Well, he looks okay, except for the cold. 

"Here you go," he says, slipping his jacket off and going to place it around Cas' shoulders.

"Oh, you don't-"

"Just let me keep you warm for a minute, alright?" 

His hands are still on the jacket where he'd gone to place it on Cas' shoulders, and now Cas' hands are there from when they'd gone up to refuse the offer. Their hands touch, the only warmth either of them can register. Their faces are now right next to each other, close enough to be caught in the clouds of one another's breath. 

Dean leans in just ever so slightly.

"Dean."

He stops. His eyes bounce up from where they'd been focused on Castiel's lips so intently, and now they find his eyes. They look... sad. Dissappointed.

"You can't."

Dean breathes out, and watches how the moisture covers Cas' cheek. 

"Are you really gonna marry him?"

A nod, slow and deliberate. Almost hesitant. 

"Cas, I could..."

A car horn honks twice aggressively. 

"That's my cab. I'd better..."

He shrugs the jacket off and hands it back to Dean without making eye contact. He runs to the cab and hops in, closes the door so quickly it's as if he might change his mind. 

The cab drives away and Dean simply watches, cold, with his jacket hanging from his hands. 

 

**

Dean sits up, back straight, against the dull, off-white plaster wall. His blue tie stands out. “I mean, it’s a really good opportunity for me. And Chicago’s not that far, I… I’m sure I’ll come back and visit.”

**

“I’m happy for him," Cas says softly. "He really deserves the promotion. And I’m sure in Chicago he’ll be able to put all that energy into something… productive. Oh me? I’m sure I’ll stay busy with the wedding… and all.”

**

 

The Chicago branch is a change. A good change, mostly. New places, new faces. 

The receptionist is a blonde named Meg, who wears low-cut shirts and makes at least two crude jokes at Dean a day. 

Sometimes he misses the old faces. 

 

**

 

“I just got back from Chicago,” Charlie announces a little louder than necessary. She leans over the reception desk, her hoodie strings dangling annoyingly in Cas' workspace. He doesn't say anything. 

“That sounds fun,” he tells her instead. 

She toys with the strings, pulling them back in towards her. “I saw Dean.”

Cas rearranges the paper clips on the upper part of his desk. His voice goes just a note higher when he asks, “How is he?”

“He’s good. His place up there is really big. And he took me to this bar where they supposedly do the best Hawaiian food off the island.” Her smile fades a little bit as her eyes focus in on the ends of her strings. “I got the feeling he was seeing someone, but I couldn’t tell for sure.”

Castiel doesn't say anything to that. Not that would know what to say. He keeps his eyes focused on the phone and prays for it to ring. 

"What would you think--"

The red light signals an incoming phone call, and Castiel dives on it like it's a lifeline. "Sandover Bridge & Iron, this is Castiel." He gives Charlie an apologetic smile but turns back to the phone call as soon as he can. 

Charlie takes the hint and walks away. 

 

**

“My ring? Oh, yeah. I should have known you guys would notice.” Cas laughs an empty laugh, though it's not completely sad. “No, we didn’t end up… I guess you could say I got cold feet. Um. Any particular reason?” His eyes drop for a second before turning out towards an empty desk and then back to the camera. “No. None in particular.”

**

 

"Gonna have to give it better than that if you wanna make it here in the big city." 

Dean laughs uncomfortably. "That's a little suggestive for a game of foosball."

"Oh, was it? I didn't notice," responds Lisa coolly. She tosses a section of her dark, silky hair over her shoulder. "By the way, those slacks really show off your-"

"Whoa there!" He hops backwards and pats down his pants, hoping to hide whatever it is she's about to point out.

"-effeminate hips, and boom!" She smiles cockily across the table and crosses her arms over her chest. "That's another point for me."

"Which brings the score to five-three, in Lisa's favor," Victor cuts in from bar stool to the right of the table, where he holds position as both score keeper and beer pitcher guardian. "Which means you're getting creamed, Winchester. By a girl."

Dean takes a step back in faux shock. He looks between the two of them, jaw dropped, and gripes,  "Wow. I have to say, they warned me about the hostile environment, but this is so much worse than I anticipated."

"Well," says Lisa, "I imagine "they" were talking about Crowley's unsolicited back massages and Zack's long-winded sports metaphors."

Dean nods interesting, taking in a slow appraisal of his co-worker. "Haven't had to deal with too many of those just yet. Not sure I'll survive it when I do."

She takes a swig of beer. "Stay close to me, kid," she tells him as she repositions her self at the table, "and I'll teach you my ways."

The swing in her hips, the intense eye contact. Dean's seen the signs before. All signs point to go. 

If that's something he wanted. 

He goes to his side of the table and rolls up his sleeves. "I think I could do that."

 

**

Dean stands outside a large office building in a bustling city center and holds a slice of deep-dish pizza in one hand. “Chicago is great. I love the pizzas, I love the ball team. I like my office team. Vic, Benny, Lisa… Lisa’s great. I guess I could see something happening there... I mean, it’s not like I can sit around waiting forever. Especially not since Cas is married now.”

He stops halfway through a crooked smile. His eyes light up as they point somewhere just off-camera. “He’s what?”

**

 

“Another birthday party?” Anna gripes as they file through the conference room door. “Can’t we just celebrate them all at once and get it over with?”

“Absolutely not,” Rufus answers her. “These are my only chances to get paid while I read my fishing magazines. I’m not givin’ this up for nobody.”

At the other corner of the room, Jo and Charlie have huddled around Castiel, who’s gripping his paper Dixie cup for dear life. 

“So how did the date go last night?”

Cas blushes. “It was fine, I guess.”

“Just fine?” 

“I’m just proud of myself for getting back out there.” His eyes stay focused on the ground. “It wasn’t a match, but… I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t be ready to date anyone anyway just yet.”

“Because of Luc.”

Castiel casts an looks towards the camera. “Yeah.”

Just then, Chuck comes waddling into the room. Waddling is the only way to describe the awkward gait he insists upon using. “Alright, alright. Drinks down everyone. Or drinks up! Actually. Because, um…” His eyes go shifty and dart their way around the room. His smile grows sneaky.  “Well, we wanted to keep this a surprise. Or, he did. Anyways.”

All faces in the room grow more confused, but it might just be Castiel’s brow that is the most furrowed. 

Chuck looks flustered. He gives himself a shake and goes on. “Now is the time to finally announce to you all that this is not merely a birthday party for the totally-unremarkable Amara.”

Amara sighs loudly and downs her paper cup of wine, already going for a refill. 

“But!" He goes on with an emphatic wag of his finger, "it is also double-functioning as a welcome party- a welcome back party as it were- for our very own, wonderful Dean Winchester!”

The entire room is filled by gasps and cheering when Dean saunters in. He's going for confident, cocky, it's clear, but just underneath there's a thick layer of nerves that can't seem to be quieted down. 

"Um, hey guys." His eyes scan the room, searching with intent, until he finds what he's looking for: Castiel, in the back corner. He's in his pink shirt, and his mouth is hanging open just a tiny bit, and he looks more beautiful than Dean had even remembered. "Feels good to be back."

The party goes way past five, with everybody hanging off of Dean, asking him a million questions about Chicago and the other branch, did he have as much fun there, was there any good gossip. 

It isn't until nearly six-thirty that he even gets a chance to have the one conversation he really wants to have. That's when he manages to wiggle his way over into Castiel's corner and ask him in a low voice, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Cas nods, unable to speak really since he first saw Dean walk into the conference room. He follows silently when Dean walks out into the stairway, and doesn't even say anything when Dean starts climbing up the ladder to the roof. He simply tags behind, close behind, and when he emerges on the roof he positions himself at Dean's side. But leaves a little space between them. 

“Hey, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.” 

That sit with that for a minute, Dean's smile wide and confident, Cas' small and more reserved.

“So you’re back.”

“Yep. I’m back.”

“Did you… not like Chicago?”

“I liked it fine.”

Dean seems reluctant to give Cas much conversation to work with. He's staring at him, won't look away in fact, but he's not talking and Cas isn't sure what to do, or why he's on this roof at all. 

“Oh. Um. Did you form any… attachments there? Are there people who will miss you, any reason to--” 

Dean reaches out and wraps his arm around Castiel’s middle, pulls him in tight against his body. Cas is frozen- for a moment, and then he finds himself fitting his body to the shape of Dean’s. His hands go to the blades of his shoulders, and then down his back. 

He breathes in everything. Dean's lips, the way his deodorant smells. He lets himself realize just how bad he wanted this. 

The Dean pulls away. He's still holding Cas, loosely, and still looking in his eyes. But he whispers quietly,  “I’m sorry if that was way out of line. And I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I just- I’ve been waiting way too long to do that.”

Cas softens. 

“No, that… it was welcome.”

That makes Dean smile the biggest, goofiest, most attractive smile Castiel has ever seen. The only thing he can do it try to match it. 

Dean's grip on his back grows more firm, and he laughs a bit. “Um. Did you want to wait for the rest of the party? Or, would you let me take you out to dinner? ‘Cus I’m dyin’ to know if the Roadhouse’s burgers are as good as they were when I left.” His confident facade drops for a second as he adds, “Or, I mean, I could take you someplace nicer-”

“The Roadhouse is perfect. Let me just grab my coat.”

They file back down the ladder, as quickly as they can, and at the bottom Dean grabs Castiel's hand with his own. Cas looks up and his expression is pure wonder.  

Dean isn't much better. Cas grabs his things from reception, and Dean can’t even stop grinning his goofy grin long enough to check out his ass while he bends down to grab his bag. Plenty of time for that later, he thinks. Hopes.

They traipse across the parking lot, hand in hand. 

“You know, The Roadhouse is the first place where I ever knew I… had feelings for you.”

Dean smirks a little smugly at that. “Oh yeah?”

Cas is turned away from the camera, but his signature blush is evident in his voice. “Yes. It was that Thursday when we all went out after sensitivity training…” He falters momentarily. “I’m sure you don’t even remember.”

“Oh, believe me, I remember.”

Cas seems to be pleased by that. “Do you remember where you were when you first realized?”

“Oh, easy," Dean scoffs. "I was at my desk, and you were at the reception desk.”

“But when?”

“When did you start working here?”

“It was March, three years ago.”

“Oh, then it was March, three years ago.”

 Cas stops walking and pulls Dean in for another long, much-waited-for kiss. 

 

**

Dean and Castiel sit side by side against the dull plaster wall, two bright smiles lighting up their faces. Castiel's hand twitch towards Dean's hand, before he decides just to go for it and grabs the hand with his own. 

“I’d say things have been going well," he says, excitedly, looking into Dean's eyes for confirmation. "Right?” 

“Oh, things are _definitely_ going well. It's been a couple months, and everyone's been really cool about, you know, us. Plus, we’re totally helping the environment. Now we can carpool to work in the mornings, and we save tons of water by showering-"

Cas’ hand quickly goes to clamp Dean's mouth shut. 

The hand slides away and Dean tries his best to looks contrite. “Sorry, dear,” he says endearingly, even as he tosses a wink toward the camera.

 **

 “Dean and Cas?” Charlie says with a giant smile. “Cutest couple in the office. I mean, don’t let Chuck and Becky catch me saying that, but, c’mon. We all know it’s true, right?” 

“Hey, side note, have you guys talked to that new girl in Sales yet? Gilda? Did she say anything about me?”

**

Sam takes a long breath, and smiles into the camera. “I’m just glad they [deleted].”

**Author's Note:**

> Can you guess which SPN character lines up with which Office character?


End file.
